Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Upcoming artist, Tokwa Peñaflorida, has showcased his works in numerous exhibits and campaigns including Ayala Foundation’s “As One As We Can” and The Red Whistle’s “Red Letter Days”. Tokwa has selflessly created works for advocacies he believes in. Prolific and skillful, with works ranging from paintings to illustrations for children’s books, Tokwa’s compelling works celebrate the beauty of the human form while combining deep and metaphorical narratives. With eroticism and nudism as prevailing themes, Tokwa’s artworks challenge socially conservative mindsets and conventions by speaking close to human experience. Never smug, Tokwa is an artist who is constantly honing himself. The altruistic artist sits down with LoveYourself’s Editorial Team for a short interview.

(Photos provided by Tokwa Peñaflorida)

Could you describe your art?

I always had this fascination with the concept of sleep and things that have a relationship to it, like dreams, the process of sleeping, beds and bedrooms, and the homograph as in "sleeping with someone". My art style is diverse and I love to experiment with different styles and media, but my language will always be the same. I focus on silent emotions and soft and warm imagery.

What is the role of your art in empowering LGBT?

I just do what I want to do to be honest. I never really got the logic behind "since I'm gay, I should only do homoerotica or gay-themed artworks" and I really don’t like it when people expect that LGBT artists only produce LGBT-related work. I do a lot of imagery that involves homosexual love, but I also do female pinups for heterosexual audiences. I'm also a children's book illustrator.

I just make sure that there should be an equal representation of different kinds of people in the stuff I do. And I fight for that equal representation. I'm a proud LGBT artist but that is not to the exclusion of others.

What can people expect from you when they attend Pride Night?

I will be displaying old and new works for the Pride Night. There will be prints and large series of illustrations of different stories.

Tokwa Peñaflorida’s works will be on display in LoveYourself’s Pride Night, set on June 11, 2016,Saturday at the Pineapple Lab from 7pm onwards. Click here for more details and register at go.loveyoruself.ph/pridenight.